Doesn’t that sound really simple? It’s not, trust me. We know by experience!
I (Jason) have always been quite independent. Growing up it was something that I sort of took pride in, and that has also been my largest ongoing battle with God. Many years ago I remember telling Him the following: Lord, I’ll go where you want me to go, and I’ll do what you want me to do
.
Easy to say, not so easy to do! It does certainly make life interesting. I could write a book titled: The Interesting Life: How to NEVER Get Bored
. Ha…
Progress
We have been working through everything that we need to do before we actually move back to the Middle Tennessee area. We have two main concerns that we’re trying to figure out at this moment.
1) What part of Middle Tennessee should we move to?
This has been a tough one to figure out. We lived in Murfreesboro for several years and most of those who we can consider our team live there. We have a presence in the area. Erynn is fairly well known throughout the city among the young people because of her singing. She and Bella became locally famous
in the schools… so that is definitely a huge advantage.
The downsides to planting in Murfreesboro are;
- Although there is an enormous population who is unchurched there (62% claim no religious affiliation (see here), and less that 15% actually attend church regularly), there are multiple, great, high impact churches already in Murfreesboro.
- Although there is a Hispanic community in Murfreesboro, it is relatively small compared to 20 miles NW, closer to Nashville. There is a Hispanic community of 65,000 in Davidson County/Nashville. Our goal is not to reach just Hispanics, but we absolutely want to work in that area big time.
In short, we are trying to decide between Murfreesboro and SE Nashville.
We have been traveling to the Nashville area frequently over the past few weeks as well as talking to ARC about it too. We hope to make a decision ASAP.
2) Planning Out Our Financial Path
It sure would be nice to just say Okay God, I’ll do what you want, and then have all of the necessary resources at our immediate disposal! I’m going to send in a Feature Request to see if He’ll consider doing that for our next project. 😉
Seriously though, we have two big things to figure out; The Church Plant & our Personal Finances.
Church Plant
We are in the process of working out our budget for the church plant with ARC and our coach JD Ost. What is certain is that this isn’t for the faint of heart! We have big dreams, and along with big dreams comes big need. ARC’s model is to plant large and to plant fast, so we are trying to expand our faith to match our dreams.
Personal Finances
Knowing that we will have to raise A LOT of money for this church plant, ideally, almost everything that we raise would go towards that. Still, we are working on HOW we can get by over the next year. We are going to need money to move, plus rent is 50% more expensive in Middle Tennessee.
I am working on a project that I PRAY will help bring in some personal income very soon. It is an online training course that I will be selling through Skipper Innovations. As soon as we are able to move to the Nashville area, Norah will be looking for a job, and I will be looking for any way possible to make money on the side.
Prayers
So as you can see, we have a lot to figure out. We just ask that you would keep us in your prayers. We need them! We need guidance, providence, faith and patience! (In reality, we need everything! Feel free to be led by God while praying for us!)
We love you all, and thank you so much for taking the time to keep up with our lives and ministry! I hope that we can be a blessing and inspiration for you too!
Love,
